BBC dramatises Thorpe saga

The story of Jeremy Thorpe, a bisexual man who became leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976, will be told in a three-part BBC drama later this month.

Thorpe had relationships with both men and women – but at a time of much wider social homophobia and biphobia, and with his early experiences of sex with men coming before the 1967 Act, this would sow the seeds of his downfall. He went from Liberal leader most tipped to become Prime Minister since Lloyd George’s day to facing trial at the Old Bailey on charges of conspiracy to murder.

Or as the BBC blurb puts it: “It is 1960s England, homosexuality is illegal and the politician Jeremy Thorpe begins a whirlwind affair with a young stable hand, Norman Scott. But when the relationship turns sour and Jeremy’s career goes from strength to strength, Norman becomes a secret that Jeremy is desperate to hide…”